Administrators answer faculty questions during town hall meeting

More than 100 people attended a town hall meeting hosted by the Faculty Senate on April 28 that provided an open forum for administrators to answer questions posed by faculty members.

Four administrators participated in the discussion: Phil Diebel, vice president for finance and business affairs and UNT System vice chancellor for finance; Bonita Jacobs, vice president for student development; Howard Johnson, provost and vice president for academic affairs; and Deborah Leliaert, vice president for university relations and UNT System associate vice chancellor for university relations.

"I was inspired by the faculty participation in the first annual Faculty Town Hall Meeting. It demonstrates that faculty are highly engaged in building and sustaining a positive university community," says Lou Pelton, professor of marketing and Faculty Senate chair. "The dialogues with vice presidents Diebel, Jacobs, Johnson and Leliaert were insightful and informative."

Questions covered faculty hiring and the tenure process; retention of high-performing faculty; workload pressures placed on staff members by the Enterprise Information System process; funding of UNT athletics; the image of the university at the state and national levels; the library budget; responsibility centered management; and UNT centers of excellence, among other issues.

"Our faculty is our greatest resource at UNT and I was excited to see so many members participating so proactively in the forum," Johnson says about the meeting. "The issues raised are at the forefront of many of our minds, and we will continue to hold discussions about these issues so that we can make decisions that are in the best interest of the entire university community — particularly in the best interests of our students."

BY MICHELLE HALE mhale@unt.edu

Other featured articles in this issue

• Six faculty recognized at UNT's annual Honors Day celebration
• UNT students win top awards in Texas broadcast competition
• Five UNT students, one alumna receive Hispanic Scholarship Fund awards
• Staff awards presented at sack lunch
• Pohl appointed to SACS Commission on Colleges
• Staff Council hears reports about Enterprise Information System, Star Performer award
• Summer camps for children planned at UNT
• UNT prepares to welcome area youth for National Youth Sports Program

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